Mike Yassine Enters Guilty Plea in Tax Case

In Austin this afternoon, Hussein Ali “Mike” Yassine, age 40, pleaded guilty to engaging in a tax fraud scheme using his Austin nightclubs.

Appearing before United States District Judge Sam Sparks, Yassine pleaded guilty to one count of procuring the preparation of a false Income Tax Return. By pleading guilty, Yassine admitted that in October 2010, he provided a professional tax preparer with false information to be included in Yassine’s 2009 federal Income Tax Return. According to court documents, figures provided by Yassine understated by hundreds of thousands of dollars the actual gross receipts generated by his downtown Austin night clubs—Spill, Qua, Kiss & Fly, Pure, and Malaia—in 2009. As a result of his guilty plea, Yassine faces up to three years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

Yassine is currently in federal custody. Last month, Yassine was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison after a jury convicted him on money laundering charges. The jury found that in 2008 and 2009, Yassine used several business establishments, including the above mentioned night clubs, to launder over $200,000 in cash, which he believed to be the proceeds of narcotics trafficking.

This investigation was conducted by agents and investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and the Austin Police Department, together with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Texas Attorney General’s Office, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commissio,n and the Texas Comptroller’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Gregg Sofer and Alan Buie are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.